When Worlds Collide
by tht1chck
Summary: Queen Myrrah knows that Sera is a dying planet, so using one of Seras greatest Scientist she finds the bridge to another habitable world to move her kind to, only problem is the Human race there is infected.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the GoW characters, EPIC does.****

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><p>The screams that echoed off of the walls of the Barge caused her ears to ring.<p>

Body numb and arms throbbing, she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, she leaned against her cell wall, gritting her teeth as she did so, the tops of her palm just grazing what felt like water as she sat hunched over. She grimaced, the worst coming to mind, the tops of her hands possibly sitting in left over locust feces or even urine-she picked up her hands into what little light shown into the small cell and sighed, ever so slightly catching sight of a dark red covering her hands. The liquid was simply coming from the deep slashes Skorge had whipped into her earlier.

_**Tai ...you idiot...**_

She mumbled to herself as footsteps slowly started to drag past the cell door, a low grunting and growling combination, the sounds of chains scraping against the floor as the occasional coughing could be herd, other then that it was silence.

_**...my men. **_

The Grubs were taking some of the prisoners out of this god forsaken Torture Barge and out to the yard to dig, for whatever it was they dug for. Another scream in the distance, this one stood out above all the rest, the voice was deeper, stronger, but she could tell it was getting weaker. She could hear the gasp at the end of it, along with the booming laughter from the Grub now delivering the whipping. She gritted her teeth.

_**No...**_

She clenched her fist that were now resting on the floor again, causing the skin around her knuckles to whiten and pain to shoot through her once again. Not Tai, he had just been captured a few hours (or was it days?) ago, if they broke him now, she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, she didn't know how she was still alive after what seemed like months. Some small part of the Lieutenant in her had fought to its wits end, seeing an old Squad mate from the 22-RTI there with her, for some reason, had given her hope.

How long had it been since Beta Squad had been captured on their routine patrol outside of the walls? It was nearly impossible to keep track of time in her current situation  
><em><br>"I'm pleased with our progress..."_

An ethereal voice spoke out as the sound of steps faintly grew louder in the hallway outside of her door. A males groaning could be herd, he was being dragged back to his cell, Lieutenant Mendoza could picture Tai, he was probably sliced up just as bad as she was, or worse. She didn't know how he broke free from the chains, all she could comprehend at the time was the scream from the drone then suddenly he was there, in front of her and wiped blood from her face as she struggled to lift her head.

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><p>She thought she was dreaming as she hung there, barbed wire tied around her wrist, blood dripping from her back, fire dancing along her skin as Tai yelled and fought against the Drones that had appeared to restrain him once again. He fought, she'd never seen anyone fight so hard in her entire life the way he did, he thrashed around and managed to knock another drone to the ground. Veins popping out along his neck and forehead.<p>

"No... Tai.." she managed to mumble before she was falling to the ground. Her wrist have been cut free, she landed with a grunt as Skorge, the bastard, hissed at Tai a smirk distorting the hideous locust face as the other Drones laughed.

_"Get busy..." _his voice curled through her ears as the lanky but vicious General motioned to the now free chains hanging from the ceiling.

_"Up..."_ one of the Drones voice ordered her. She couldn't move, so she just closed her eyes, darkness was her escape. Oh how she welcomed it right now. Her limbs were burning, her skin torn from it's place, she could feel it, lying there on the ground. A sharp pain jolted through her stomach. _"UP!"_the Drone shouted again, reading himself for another kick. She coughed, moving a shaking limb to her stomach, the taste of bitter iron on her tongue as she forced her palm to lay flat on the ground.

_**"DO NOT LET THEM WIN!" **_

His voice rang out so loud and strong she jumped as if another kick had happened.

_**"DO NOT GIVE IN!" **_

Tai's voice thundered again, she could hear Skorge screech, the sound of that whip that was spiked and splintered crack, the sound of it as it tore through the air and penetrated with the thick flesh on Tai's back. He grunted, but didn't scream, he wouldn't scream. The Drones laughed as they watched their Kantus General whip into the humans flesh again and again.

_"This was the one that challenged me on the surface..." _Skorge hissed through his teeth, that snarling smirk still present on his face.

_"UP!" _the Drone shouted in her direction once again. She couldn't move up any further then holding herself up against her elbows, she watched Tai as Skorge whipped into him, again and again, unable to do anything. Suddenly something was pulling her into the air, head pounding into oblivion now, the Drone had grabbed her by the hair, still shouting for her to rise. She yelled, adrenaline suddenly flooding her veins as the grub picked her up into a standing position, using what strength mustered through her, she yanked away, feeling the sharp sting as a grip of hair was torn from her skull.

She ran, urging her legs to get away as far as humanly possible, hearing the shouts from Skorge as the Drones followed, close behind, vision blurring, she collapsed just as a bullet whizzed past her shoulder.

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><p><em>"This one managed to run?" <em>

The ethereal voice continued as the door to her cell was pulled open, the Drone grunted in reply.

_"...filth ran from us for a good five minutes before collapsing, we were just about to shoot it before it fell..." _the distorted Drones voice answered to the ethereal one as clear as the Lieutenant had ever herd a Locust speak in English.

Something came into the room with her and grabbed her face, forcing her to look up. Lieutenant Mendoza, slowly opened her eyes to meet a clear blue gaze staring back at her, the Lieutenant slowly inhaled through her nose, what was a civvie doing down here in the Hollow? And more importantly what were the Locust doing taking orders from them?

It wasn't until the Blue eyed woman released her face and stepped back nodding is when the Lieutenant realized that it wasn't just the face of the 'thing' that was normal. She was human, at least through Mendoza's' blurred and darkened vision she looked human, the woman even looked as if she was wearing an altered version of COG issued armor, but it was twisted, spiked at the shoulder blades and a deep crimson color...  
><em><br>"If she has not died yet..."_ that cool blue stare watched her for a moment, cold eyes grazing over the Lieutenants body accessing her injuries, she nodded again and turned back to the Drone._ "She will do." _The civvie walked out of the cell her voice carrying across the barge, but footsteps fading_. "I want you to take her to have those wounds burned, she's no good to me dead..." _for a moment Mendoza was sure this wasn't happening, it was a hallucination from the blood loss. _"And give this to her immediately afterwards, Fenix believes it will help wounds heal a bit faster..." _

_**...Fenix?**_

Mendoza watched The Drone her eyes half closed as it nodded and turned back to the Lieutenant a snarl on his face again as he closed the small space and shoved a thick needle into her stomach. The Lieutenant grunted, unable to move and coughed more as she fell back to lying on her side with a thud.

_"Actually... Leave her there for now, don't burn the wounds shut just yet, lets see if Fenixs' _remedy_ has any effect on her..." _that terrifyingly ethereal voice called from someplace unseen once again. The Drone grunted in agreement as it slammed the cell door shut.

Mendoza could hear the loud bang as the lock for the door closed, and the repeating pattern as the cell doors shut around her, she listened intently for the drones sounds to fade into a whisper and then she screamed. She screamed at the top of her lungs as a sharp stinging spread throughout what felt like her entire body. No, her bloodstream. It was ripping at her insides, she was burning from the inside out.

Queen Myrrah smirked as she rode the elevator to the top of the Barge listening to the Lieutenant's screams carrying through the air.

_"She will be ready soon, we cannot afford to lose any more time... The Lambent have proven their worth, and now it is time to move on..."_ the Drone standing next to her did not understand what she spoke of, but remained silent nonetheless as his Queen mused to herself._ "...our beloved planet Sera is quickly becoming a lost cause..."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the GoW characters, EPIC does and **I don't own any of the the L4D2 Survivors, VALVE does. **

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><p>"<em>The human civilization there will attack you without pause...<em>" its Queen warned as she placed the Gnasher into the Drones arms. It nodded and took a firm grip on its weapon, this was an honor, an _honor_ to be chosen.

The rift before him emitted nothing but a white light, that occasionally shifted to darkness then back to the light, the Drone could feel an uneasy growl escape his throat as the gathering of Locust stood behind it. Eventually they would all cross over, so why was it so nervous? Queen Myrrah had assured him it was nothing that the Drone couldn't handle. It stood idly in front of the giant rift, staring into that piercing brightness that stung its eyes, behind the Drone a cackling laughter broke out among the crowd, Skorge walked forward and kneeled next to the Queen before standing.

"_Coward..._" the word dripped from the Kantus Generals mouth as it continued to laugh. The Drone held its head a little higher and rushed forward into the light, ignoring any feeble feeling from stopping it...

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><p>The Drone was slightly uneasy as it crouched low in the debris of the muddy water, loading its Gnasher, it could smell the humans as they approached closer, unaware of its presence. This group wasn't as aware to their surroundings as the other humans were that it had encountered earlier. The other humans that blindly charged at it, mouths open and teeth bared, the Drone had killed the horde of humans easily enough.<p>

"Listen up, everybody! Be on the lookout for blood farmers... I'm serious." one of the males in the small group approaching shouted. The Drone growled, ready to pull the trigger as the humans walked closer.

"Boy, what the _hell_ are you talking about?" a females voice suddenly snapped as the first male started to snicker.

"_Duh_? Farmers that don't grow crops; they grow _PEOPLE_, to _EAT_." the Drone growled again, and watched as the only human female in the group seemed to have herd its sounds and glanced around scanning the area as they walked through the water that was practically up to their knees now.

"_Jesus Christ_, Ellis, like the goddamn zombies aren't bad enough." Another male voice countered this time, he glanced at the woman walking next to him and one he noticed how tense she was, he started to listen closer to the sounds of the bayou all around him. "Can you hear that?"

"Hey, where's Coach?" Ellis suddenly said glancing around their surrounds his brow furrowed.

**_Die..._**

The axe cut through the air and hit the Drone head with a loud thunk. Coach grunted and pulled his melee weapon out of the Drones skull as he kicked the torso away from him and watched as it floated in the water.

"They 'oughta name a school after me for this shit..." he mumbled to himself looking at what he had thought was a charger, but it didn't have a giant arm like the rest of those special infected in the area.

"_Whoa_, Coach!" Ellis whooped as the three sloshed towards the older men as he glared down at the corpse in the water.

"Impressive Coach..." the cool voice of Nick complimented the man, whom nodded in acknowledgment then followed with; "What the hell is _that_?" he frowned looking down at the body now as well.

"It sounded like a hunter, when I was roundn' n' closer, but it _looks_ like an' Charger... but now lookin' at it fully, I honestly don't know wa' infected type, it'd be..." Coach mumbled, he raised his arm and wiped the sweat from his brow, Rochelle frowned clearly uncomfortable by the thought of the infected changing again.

"I think we should keep moving..." she turned not wanting to look at the body any longer.

"Aw! C'mon Ro! Don't cha wana know whats gon' be attackin' us? I mean afta' them mud people, I'd like ta' be ready fo anythin'!" Ellis outstretched his leg and kicked the body over in the water and stared down at the face of the Drone. It's features were distorted in anger, as if in its last moments of life reflected the fury at the thought of a human killing it. "Okay, _tha'_ things a lita' creepy..." He looked up at the other survivors who were all now staring at the Drones face as well.

"C'mon Ellis, lets just keep moving..." Nick nodded in Rochelle's direction as she turned away, more than eager to get away from the lifeless infected body then ever.

Coached stayed put a few moments longer letting his group walk ahead and bent over, his hands going through the muddy water, searching. Finally he found it, the shotgun that he was sure he saw the thing was holding before he came down on its skull.

_But infected don't carry weapons, _can't_ carry weapons..._

"What in the hell-?"

"Hey Coach! You comin' or wha'?" Ellis shouted, as the man grimaced.

"Goddammit, Ellis, keep it down already!" He called back and jogged to catch up to the group, he strapped the Gnasher to his back using the extra strap from his other firing weapon and continued to scan the area, watching over the younger members in his group. Coach could've swore to himself that he herd the Charger talking just before he cut into its head and it might've just been him, but he could just knew they'd end up seeing more Chargers like that last one. "Man, this is about to get all Baghdad and shit..." he mumbled to himself shifting the weight of the Gnasher on his back, he's never carried a shotgun so heavy before.

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><p><strong>AN: Kind of a big opener, but it's gotta happen somehow and these are just the opening Chapters... **

**So, what do you think? **

**Leave me a review? :3**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the GoW characters, EPIC does****

**Lieutenant Mendoza is my character, though.**

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><p>Eventually the coughing subsided, the screaming stopped and the burning dulled, she sat upright, vision clearer as her eyes focused on the door.<p>

_What did that Drone do to me?  
><em>  
><em>What the fuck is that civvie doing down here?<em>

_And what is Marcus Fenix doing coming up with_remedies _for these monsters?__  
><em>  
>"...it couldn't be Adam Fenix, I pulled Santiago and Marcus out of there on a Raven the day Adam died... the ground collapsing beneath his feet, I heard the screams myself..." she mumbled thinking aloud. In the cell next to her she could hear groaning, Tai wouldn't make it much longer if he stayed here. Before the drones had drug him back to her cell, before they shoved that needle in her stomach, they had him for possibly hours. She could still hear the echo of that whip against her own skin and shuddered.<p>

"Tai... you're going to make it out of here. You survive everything, remember? You _can't_die..." she bowed her head at the following silence, she could briefly hear the intake of his breath.

He was still alive and hanging on by a thread by the sounds of it but he could be bleeding to death for all she knew. Shes experienced having her own wounds burned closed before by the Drones, because that's how they wanted it, how they wanted their prisoners, weak but alive. When the locust started taking prisoners-she didn't know, most of the people she had seen in passing down here were mostly Stranded. Some looked like they've been trapped down in the Hollow for years with their decaying faces, all traces of hope lost from their eyes, all traces of everything lost from their eyes. It was encounters like that, in which the Lieutenant couldn't handle.

When her squad first arrived, they had fought back. They were new prisoners, and sent out to-from what she could gather from the Drones broken English-the Nexus entrance to dig in the yards. The Stranded that had just been captured as well would look to her and the men in her Squad as if surprised. _"Great, even the friggin' COG is gettin' dragged down here, if you bastards ain't gonna stop this, who is?"_ One of the Stranded men had yelled her way before getting knocked down by a guard for stepping out of line. She locked eyes with the random stranded man as a Drone handed her a shovel and pushed her forward into the dirt area. She glanced back her whole Squad wasn't with her, but her cousin, _Salvador _was still there, fire burning in his eyes, she nodded slightly, he returned the gesture. Once he had a shovel in his hands as well is when they'd strike…

Being down in the Hollow meant nothing but lost time. Her squad was sent out a few days after the Evacuation of North Gate, there was seismic activity, but everyone had believed the war was over once again, it was one of the last times she saw Tai, before now, that is.

_**"Now, we need to do it now!"**_

That piercingly calm voice echoed around the barge as Mendoza jumped being pulled from her thoughts, that female civvie was back. The Lieutenant slowly stood and braced herself against the cell wall, they were coming to her cell, she knew it. Surprisingly enough a light flickered on in her cell, she squinted her eyes-having been in the dark for so long-and ran a hand through her long black hair. It was something that stood out differently among the other female gears, she refused to cut it. She winced slightly her fingers grazing an area of dried blood on her skull.

_When I pulled away..._

That familiar screeching was herd as the handle was pulled to open the doors to the Barge, as the Lieutenants door swung open she braced herself. As expected a Drone was standing in the doorway waiting for her.

"Evenin'," she nodded and using what strength was left in her, she pushed herself off against the cells wall and slammed into the drone, sending them both falling to the ground gracelessly. She pushed herself up and straddling the drone wrapped her dried and cracked hands around its skull and twisted.

The small crack that echoed into the silence was _oh-so satisfying_.

It was worth getting kicked in the chest back into her cell. She spit in the direction of the drone coming into her cell, it growled and slammed her back against the wall, and a loud _"oof" _escaped her lips but nothing more as she was raised off of the ground by her kneck. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins again. She clenched her teeth and brought her right hand around the drones neck and squeezed just as well, her vision started to get blurry from her oxygen getting cut off. The drone grabbed onto the hand around his kneck and sent a knee into her stomach, she lost her wind and fell to the ground hard when the drone released her.

"You'd bastards better pray that I don't get my hands on any actual weapons..." she chuckled threateningly, "…because when I do..." the drone slammed a fist into her face causing her to grunt and a trickle of blood to start leaking from her nose. "Fuck you," was all she could muster as she slumped to the right, the pain ringing through her limbs overtaking the adrenaline. She was tired, for what seemed like the hundredth time, she wondered if this was it, was she going to die here, suddenly a light laughter rang through her ears.

"Calm yourself girl, I did not give you all of that... that... What exactly did you call it again Adam?" that terrifyingly ethereal voice said over the growling of the Drone. It immediately backed out of the cell as she strained to sit up to get a look at the civvie, baffled at how the Drones acted when the other civvie was in the area.

"I don't exactly have a name for it Myrrah..."

_That voice, it couldn't be._

"Step aside, I told you to not harm the female human any further!" the Drone instantly flinched away, the as the lights in her cell flickered and the civvie came into view once again. She wasn't in her altered COG armor this time, but a dress, a long white, moving dress.

_What the __**shit**__?_

Standing beside her was a man whos mouth was slightly ajar, his blinking was excessive as he stared at the Lieutenant before he slowly shook his head as if he couldn't believe his eyes. As if to finish the thought he removed the glasses resting on his face and rubbed his pupils. Once they rested on his face again Mendoza could see him visibly gulp.

_How is he alive?_

"Emma, _Lieutenant Emma Mendoza_?" his voice was a little over a whisper as he spoke but the Barge was silent as he did. The woman named Myrrah turned to face him, a small flash of concern showing on her face.

"You know this one? How _fortunate_..." Adam turned to glance at Myrrah a brief flash of horror flashing over his features.

"No, not this one, we can choose another, there should be plenty of the serum left."

"No," the civvie called Myrrah waved her hand dismissively. "I used the whole thing on this one..." Myrrah gestured to one of the Drones standing behind her who then moved forward. "Get dressed Lieutenant, it is time." Fenix stood there once again, looking at Myrrah a bit stricken as if just slapped. Mendoza could've swore she her him mumble; "The whole thing?" as he quickly glanced back in her direction.

There was one word that was universal in the whole Coalition, used by the veterans and younger troops of all ages and it had the depths of meaning that no other word could quite conquer.

"_**Shit**_," was all she could muster as the drone tossed a bag into her cell that contained her Armor, it then quickly backed away from the Lieutenants cell entrance. Mendoza smirked slightly at this. "Scared of a weaponless female human I see..." she mumbled but shakily stood to her feet and grabbed the bag as she wiped the blood still flowing from her nose.

Her eyes had finally adjusted to the light in her cell as she opened the bag and ignored the fact that it was a bag made of skin, wither humans or drone, she wasn't entirely sure, but this wasn't any ordinary duffle bag. The metal plates were in good shape, it was almost as if the drones were keeping it safe for themselves. Her armor was made of smaller plates than the typical male Gears equipment. It was just as tough but fitted differently and just as heavy, she slouched under the weight of her chest Seals as they strapped together. Once she finished strapping on her leg plates she couldn't help herself as she fell to her knees and landed with a loud _clunk, _that was when two drones came into the tiny cell, grabbed onto her arms and dragged her out. She didn't care, nothing mattered, she's die with her armor on willingly and take as many Grubs out with her as possible.

"…_no! Wait, stop! Let me!"_ a voice called out, Mendoza was dropped, she landed with a loud clunk as the drones let her fall to the ground, their crackling laughter rang through her ears as they continued to walk ahead and catch up to the female civvie. "Emma…" Adam Fenixs' voice was soft as he placed his hand on her shoulder, she shrugged it off and started to push herself up, she had been pulled on for a while before Fenix told them to stop.

"I've got it Professor Fenix…" she mumbled as she shakily rose from the ground, she took a few steps before she faltered and Adam caught her arm to keep her from falling. She mumbled a quite _Thank You_ and held onto the man for support.

_He's alive… Marcus, does Marcus know? _

Her mind was racing, but one of the first things to come to mind was _Marcus_, did he know that his father was still alive? She felt Adam slip his arm around her waist and pull her along, his face had a deep scowl on it, similar to how Marcus looked a majority of the time… "Professor Fenix, where are you taking me?" she dared to ask and internally cursed at herself for automatically calling him _Professor, _and the crack in her voice that threatened at what was to come.

_Fear, can't be scared now, can't break down and fall apart, the Professor's here, my Squad might make it out…_

"I'm afraid I don't actually know where you'll be going Emma, but I know that the people there are dangerous… _infected_. When you arrive, you must be careful…" he hesitated while they were walking and looked at her, a dejected look on his face. "I'm so sorry Emma, this is all my fault…"

"Professor, no it's not-" she automatically answered but stopped when a huge light overtook the dark caves of the hollow. It was a giant rift in the caverns, the colors were intensified that swirled around in it, Mendoza squinted her eyes at the intimidating door-like opening in front of her and looked at the Professor who had that scowl again. Adam Fenix leaned into her, wrapping the female gear into a hug and whispered into her ear.

"Don't die there, I will get you back, there are two way points, there and back, once they arm you, hit the beam at the top of the rifts threshold …destroy it."

She didn't understand but nodded into the older man's neck, she was pulled away from Fenix by the two Drones from earlier. She yanked her arm away from the grubs and pushed it back.

"I can't walk, you piece of…"

"Now, now, save your energy foolish girl!" Myrrahs voice called out,Mendiza glanced in her direction and noticed in her arms she was holding one of the old standard issued Pendulum Wars Lancers. The civvie held out the gun to the Lieutenant, Mendoza took a hesitant step forward to the civvie, the drones behind her tensed, possibly remembering the warning she spat in their faces earlier.

She continued her strides towards the civvie, the drones moved in synch right behind her, and once she reached Myrrah she paused and looked at the woman in front of her. "Who are you?" her voice came out in a whisper, Myrrah smiled and handed the weapon to the Lieutenant, once she had a firm grasp on it the drones that were following behind her, grabber her hands and snatched the Lancer away, they strapped it to the magnetic plates on her back. "Fuck you!" She shouted at the drones and turned back to Fenix while the drones started to move her towards the rift illuminating with light.

_Are they going to throw me in there? _

The thought came out in a panic, she reached behind herself and unlatched the bayonet from the Lancer on her back and in a swift movement brought the blade down on one of the drones beside her, slicing deep into its side, the drone cried out and kicked her forward as it fell to the ground on its side, she was closing the gap fast and getting closer to that threatening light.

_No._

She turned on her heel and unlatched the Lancer on her back, checking the clip she stood her ground and took aim at the drone behind her. "I told you to watch out when I got my hands on a weapon…" her voice was venom as the drone growled and waited for an opening, Mendoza focused on the drone in front of her and forgot about the one on the floor…

A sudden pain shot through her leg as the drone on the ground cut into her flesh, she cried out and kicked the drone on the ground in the face, she cursed, hearing Fenix in the background shouting something but she couldn't make out what. The drone still standing took this opportunity to grab the bayonet knife from her hands and put her in a headlock, she was forced forward, her own bayonet against the skin on her flesh. She swallowed the light right in front of her now, that's when she herd the sound of more gunfire and a scream from the female civvie.

The drone dropped her in front of the rift and turned to aid its Queen. On the ground again Mendoza turned around to see a capsule shooting through the ground and landing in the area, the cavern around them caving in as it did. The capsule opened and out stepped two gears, one had their helmet on the other practically jumped out of the doors. They both froze seeing the scene in front of them.

_Gears… No!_

"**NO**!" Mendoza shouted at the top of her lungs. "**GET INTO COVER, **_**NOW**_**!**" she roared at the top of her voice, the two Gears instantly reacted, moving behind the capsule in synch just as the two drones opened fire on the men. Mendoza reattached the bayonet to her Lancer…

_Those men…_

She raised the weapon and aimed for the drones head, hearing the Hollow as it stirred, more grubs were on the way. She let four shots fly, hitting her mark, the drone that she had stabbed, was now lying lifeless on the ground. Off to the side Mendoza saw the Professor and Civvie in cover, the screeching of Reavers could be heard off into the distance… more shots rang out as the two Gears started to return fire on their position, suddenly a bullet hissed past her ear, then another tore through her shoulder. She cried out and then everything went white.  
><em><br>Aren't going to make it out of the Hollow alive…_

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><p><strong>AN: If you got a double notification... I hit save twice, my bad, but updates should come sooner. I just got a new laptop! **

**Finally some zombie smashing will be next. **

**Awee yeeaaah.**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the Gears of War characters, EPIC does and I don't own any of the Left 4 Dead 2 characters, VALVE does.**

**Lieutenant Emma Mendoza is my OCC character.**

**A/N: I'm sorry this took forever, but… Anyone still reading? *crickets* Hah.**

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><p>Landing face first into the murky water was hell.<p>

Mendoza struggled to get to her feet with the full weight of her armor on her shoulders now hitting her once again, she frantically felt around in the water for her lancer, her breathing coming out in short panicked gasp as she did. When it was finally within her hold she did a quick check of ammo disregarding the stinging coming from her left shoulder, and slowly turned around. Whatever light she had fallen into had caused the scene in the Hollow to evaporate. For a few moments the bayou was silent as the atmosphere seemed to shift with the newcomer in the land, then within moments, just as fast as it had stopped, the insects floating around picked the sound back up, bringing the swamp back to life.

"_**ADAM**_!" she screamed at the top of her lungs into the empty air of the swamp as she glanced around, the echo of her yell fading off into nothing but the distance, for a brief moment she thought she could hear screaming that wasn't her own voice echoing off the murky prison.

_Where the hell am I?_

The thought came out in a panic as she stood in the water, staring at the empty space in front of her as if the giant white rift would reappear if she waited long enough. More COG soldiers were entering the Hollow, unaware that the Locust had been taking prisoners and torturing them. Cussing under her breath she moved from her position and reattached the lancer to the metal plates on her back. She cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders, the wound on her left shoulder stinging as she did so.

_You're out… You're alive. _

She kneeled in the water for a few moments, unsure if she was truly alive, the pit of her stomach was churning; she could feel her cracked and dry palms absorbing the swamp water as she slightly rocked herself, tears staring to fall from her eyes as she failed to suppress a sob, she was alive… she was _**alive**_**.**

"_Calm down… you.. need to calm.. down..!" _

Her shaky voice came out in gasp as she stayed sitting in the swamp, she didn't care where she was at the moment, so she wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed.

She didn't hear the growling coming from the trees as she trembled in the water.

It was watching from a distance, circling in the trees, waiting for the right moment…

"_**YEEEAAAAARRRRRR-!"**_

The scream cut through the noises in the bayou and sent a chill through the Lieutenant's whole body. She stood, unlatched her lancer from the plates on her back and took a defensive position. _Something_ was watching her from the trees, and she shuddered at the thought of being hunted again. She needed to get a grip on herself, she was still in enemy territory, she would cry when she was in a COG outpost, behind a wall and out of the line of fire.

_How long has it been since I've… _

The thought drifted from her as she moved from her position, she came upon a path that was built into the swamp, stepped up onto the wooden boards and shook the water out of her boots. She kept to the path, a light off in the distance showing remnants of what looked like a small town built into the swamp. When she finally came upon the town and her boots once again touched solid ground she stopped in her place… Serving with the Coalition for so long, one becomes sort of accustomed to being surrounded by death, but this… these bodies had been _torn_ _apart_. It was a whole different thing from seeing the torture barges in the Hollow, to gutting a UIR solider in battle with a bayonet. She swallowed the saliva collection at the base of her throat, the sudden sounds of gunfire and a few screams cutting through the air once again knocking her out of her trance.

_Gears or Stranded?_

She couldn't tell from where she was, but any human interaction was welcomed at this point, seeing the human carcasses in front of her like this was making her uneasy. She did a brief check of what was still in her pack and tucked away in her armor plates and was slightly relieved to find the few survival tools that what normally come with the standard COG armor. As she moved towards the direction of the now silent screaming she untwisted the bayonet blade from her lancer and latched it onto the side of her belt. Something was watching her from the trees, she could feel it, it wasn't just the stillness of the bayou or her imagination, something was out there, hunting her as she searched for her fellow Gear companions.

_**SAFE**_ _**HOUSE**_ was sprayed along the side of one of the shops with an arrow pointing in the direction in which she was already headed.

"_I'm not going to let anymore Gears die today…"_ she mumbled to herself and started a steady jog now following the brightly colored directions placed in front of her. She stopped again, coming upon a pile of abandon ammo, kneeling next to the welcoming pile she noticed a note stuck into the ground, barely legible that read; "_GOOD LUCK!" _She nodded a silent thanks to whoever left the pile there for the taking and took a few clips of ammo, reloaded her lancer and stood once again.

She could hear growling in the trees, it was following her, taunting her and waiting for a moment to strike. With the previous scream from before still fresh in her memory, she adjusted the Retro lancer in her arms and removed the bayonet blade from its place, tucking it into the empty knife pocket on her belt, the Lieutenant rechecked her clip one last time before moving forward again, Adam Fenixs' words suddenly fresh in her mind.

_Dangerous… __**infected**__._

* * *

><p>"…..Did you guys hear that?" Rochelle was in the middle of the group, she glanced back, and noticed that they had all stopped moving as a whole.<p>

Stay together and survive, that was the one thing their minds all had in sync.

Well, most of them.

"Hey _GUYS_ did cha' hear tha' noise?" Ellis called as he walked out of one of the nearby shops a newly found crowbar in his hands replacing the baseball bat he had broken earlier.

Nick rubbed his face with his free palm in frustration while his other hand still held his magnum. "Overalls, will you stay with the fucking group already, I'm not up for covering your ass if you feel like knocking another Witch out with a frying pan-"

"Nick you know tha' was awesome!" Ellis countered easily as he trotted up to the group, he bumped Rochelle in the shoulder with his elbow lightly and smiled. "It was probably nothin' to worry about, Ro', them zombies are always walking into stuff… Hell it could've even been a tank takin' out some gas pumps or somthin'…" he smiled a reassuring smile for her and she nodded but kept her gaze off in the distance.

"Coach?" she tilted her head sideways a little as the three younger group members watched the old man, brow furrowed.

"We need to keep movin'…" was all he said and then turned to take lead on the group.

Nothing prepared them for the white light that overtook the horizon.

"The _HELL_?" Nicks voice shouted out over the loud humming that seemed to tear into the atmosphere as if helicopters were landing somewhere near them.

"Is it the army?" Rochelle called as she started to move away from the group and off towards where the sound seemed like it was coming from, the light momentarily cutting off their senses. She had moved further away from the group then anticipated and didn't hear the growling over the humming that suddenly stopped as soon as it had started, the light faded, the area around then went silent until a loud scream echoed through the air.

"_**YEEEAAAAARRRRRR-!"**_

It landed hard on her back and slammed her into the ground face first, causing her jaw to meet the ground, she bit into her cheek as the slashes happening down her back started to catch on fire.

The shot that rang out blew the Hunter clear off of her back, for a few moments she just lied there, stunned she had gotten pinned so easily. Nick was at her side followed by Ellis, both of the men asking if she was okay, Coach was stunned the shotgun that he had picked up earlier had such force to it.

"Here, let me heal you…" Nick quietly commented as he helped her up. "We're almost at the safe house, this'll have to do for now…"

"_This'll_ here… be messin' some shit up!" Coach was grinning as he pulled the heavy shotgun closer towards him examining it a bit more. "Ellis, what kind of gun you gessin' this is? I mean I know it's a shotgun, but I ain't never seen this model before!" Ellis was watching Nick heal Rochelle but wondered over to Coach to take a closer look at the weapon.

"It's got a weird skull design on it Coach, where en' the hell did ya' find it?" Ellis asked holding out his hands like a kid asking for an allowance.

"Nu-uh boy, this pretty than' 'ill be staying wit' me…" Coach smiled at the frowning boy as Rochelle and Nick walked up to the two. "You able to hold up Ro?" He asked, the concern finally dripping from his tone.

"Not like I have a choice…" She checked the ammo in her pistols and took point as the three men followed behind her. "Follow me, lets just get to the safe house already…"

"You're in charge!" Ellis called behind her in which was a purely innocent comment, but it didn't stop the glare that was shot from the only female in the group. "Sorry, Ro…" he said putting his hands up briefly and picked up the pace to walk beside her.

Suddenly, beneath their feet the ground started to shake.

"The hell's this bullshit?"  
>"Can just one goddamn thing go right?"<br>"WHAT THE F-"  
>"Hell no!"<p>

Was all said in unison as the group ran towards the nearest broken down shop.

"Coach, _EARTHQUAKES_ happen in Georgia?" Rochelle could hear herself screaming as the ground continued to move.

"What? Hell no! There hasn' been an' earthquake in these parts in over a hundran' years!"

"Well that's fucking fantastic! I'm really glad Mother Nature decided to pick a God-Damn-Zombie-Apocalypse to show the lovely people of Georgia that she was still able to fucking bring the house down!" Nick shouted grabbing onto one of the porch railings on the walkways of the shop, he glanced around. "Uh, guys, where the hell is Overalls?" he shouted at the other two group members.

Just as the three started to glance around the shaking seemed to intensify and the ground in front of the shops area started to crack open, no, it started to sink in just as a huge tarantula like leg shot out from the dirt.

The three survivors watched in horror as the _small_ Corpser pulled itself out of the ground, leg by leg, slowly the three survivors backed into the shop to watch from afar.

"We are _screwed_…" Nick muttered and was going to call out for Ellis but Rochelle covered his mouth, her eyes just as wide as his. The three moved further back into the abandon shop, putting as much distance between them and the giant spider emerging from the ground as far as possible.

"Where the fuck is Ellis?" Rochelle hissed as they crouched behind a counter.

"Well find the boy an' head back through the bayou is wha'we have ta' do ri' now, no way are we takin' tha' thang out wit' wha' littla' ammo we have…" Coach whispered looking Rochelle and Nick in the eyes, his southern accent coming out thicker than usual.

All three of them knew a safe house was near, but none were willing to leave their youngest member behind for anything to eat or tear apart.

* * *

><p>Letting her lancer fall to the ground next to her, she landed on her knees, clenched her left arm and cursed into the thick air of the swamp. The sounds of the screams finally silent but still echoed in her ears, she needed to put more distance between herself and this quarantined area.<p>

_What the hell is wrong with them? _

She thought to herself as she stood and dusted off the metal plates to the parts of armor that were restored back to her, she sighed and picked up the lancer again, swinging it onto the metal plates on her back. The stranded camp that Fenix had sent her to was sick, he was right, they were infected with something that made them manic, unreasonable. One of the stranded civvies had even taken a bite out of her already wounded left arm. In all of her years of war while serving the Coalition she had never had anyone try to bite her, well no humans to say at least.

_Fucking stranded._

She huffed on now more cautious to go running towards the sound of gunfire, still the COG must be dealing with these infected areas… right? It was just another disease, like rustlung. She could feel the weight of her armor exhausting her faster than it normally would've, she had spent a lot of time in the Hollow, it felt like she had lost muscle mass. Off in the distance she could hear more scattered gunshots and more of that crazed screaming that she encountered with the horde of stranded people just moments ago. It suddenly went quite once again and then the ground started to shake.

_E-Hole…_

Feeling momentum and the thought of seeing her fellow Gears or even some sort of un-infected stranded she re-started her steady jog towards the next small town just a few klicks away from her current position. Used to the effects that the E-Holes caused as they tore apart the ground, she pushed forward, thinking of only her breathing, matching it to the rhythm's to her long strides when she felt another aftershock.

_Another E-Hole? No, that one was too strong... _

"Corpser, _**shit**_…" she cursed out loud recognizing the way the ground shook stronger as the town came closer into view. "Lets do this…" she mumbled to herself as she grabbed the lancer from the magnetic plates on her back and reloaded the weapon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Where the hell is **_**Overalls**_**? What the _hell_ is that giant spider thing? _Where_ is the zombie smashing? The ****Lieutenant got _bit_?**

**Anyway, thanks for reading!  
>The Survivors finally meet our dramatic <strong>Lieutenant <strong>in this next chapter. **


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the LFD2 or GOW characters, they belong to VALVE and EPIC.**

* * *

><p><em>Shit.<em>

"_Shit…" _Ellis pulled the cap off of his head and peered around the side of the small market house and watched in horror as the giant spider slowly pulled itself out of the muddy ground. He was frozen, stuck in place and he couldn't hear the coughing off in the distance. The spider emerging from the ground was about the size of a tank, possibly a little bigger, his checked the weapons he had on him and cursed under his breath. He was running low on everything and it seemed he wouldn't be able to take down this infected on his own. He needed to regroup with the others.

_Why did I have to look for ammo on my own… why?_

He thought as he leaned back against the wall, he knew they were close to a safe house, maybe there was a stash of ammo around the small market somewhere, all he had wanted to do was find some for the others... that and possibly an identical shotgun like the one Coach was wielding. He looked back up at the corpse emerging from the ground, it looked like it was stuck in the tough moist ground of the dried bayou area. That's when he felt the cold slimy tongue wrap around his neck.

"No, no… _NOOOO_!" he called out dropping his pistol in a panic, he could feel himself getting dragged away from the town and through the water. "I can't move, _HELP_!" he roared at the top of his lungs when able to but knew his group wouldn't be able to hear him with the distance he was now quickly getting. The tall smoker infected finally had him within grasp and began slashing at Ellis. He cried out, his vision going blurry from his air supply being cut off as he lashed back at the special infected as much as possible, he couldn't reach the crowbar strapped to his back and the sound of the common infected screaming was echoing around the bayou.

_This is it… I'm not going to.._

The crack of the rifle caused his ears to ring, suddenly he was being shaken, and someone was kneeling next to him, it wasn't anyone from his team, he could barely make out the figure as he attempted to sit up to avoid sinking further into the muddy water.

"_Are .. alright? …hear me..?" _

He could hardly make out their voice as they helped him up from the ground, he felt them wrap an arm around his waist as he held onto the person for support, if he could just stand, he could heal up his wounds and take a painkiller or two, the throbbing was already taking effect in his throat.

"I jus'.. need ta' heal ma' s-self…" he finally managed to get out, his head hung low as the person started moving, no, pulling him forward with them. His vision clearing up, he regained his footing and tried to move in sync with his savior.

"_We've got to get you someplace dry, then we'll get you patched up…_" the person pulling him along said as they continued to move forward. "_Is your camp near? Do you have a radio on you?_" they asked him as the both of them trotted across the bayou, for a second, Ellis could've sworn his saviors voice sounded female. He let the person guide him, his vision now coming back into focus he glanced to the person practically carrying him through the knee deep water.

_Ho-ly shiit! _

He thought suddenly letting his feet drop from under him, the woman grunted and glanced at him, she was older, he could tell, possibly late twenties early thirties. Her dark hair was tied in a bun, a few strands falling into her eyes as she kept him from completely falling into the bayou water. He felt her hard gaze as he looked at the clothing, no, the _armor _she was wearing, and without thinking he heard himself blurt out without realizing it,

"_Damn you're totally ready for sum' zombie smashing, ain't ya!" _

"…what?" She asked coming to a complete stop and Ellis was glad for it, he really didn't want to be half carried anymore-anyways.

"_Zombie smashing! I mean, you're totally prepared for this apocalypse!" _he could feel his face getting red as the woman's dark eyes kept a steady but wary lock on Ellis. She scanned the area behind him as he continued to talk and eventually take off the medi-pack strapped to his back.

"_Cover me while I heal myself?"_ He asked as she nodded once and turned around to survey the area some more.

"We need to keep moving civvie, it's dangerous out here… but I'm sure you're already aware of that." She commented and turned back around as Ellis was putting some cream around his neck.

"_Ahh… oh yeah…" _he shivered as the cream was hot at first then cooled the soreness away, the memory of that tongue around his neck causing him to shiver again for an entirely different reason. _"Much, much better, lets head out!" _

Ellis watched the woman as she surveyed the area while they moved back towards the town he was dragged from, she was cautious, listening to the sounds echoing around as they silently made their way. He let his eyes graze over his savior once more as he followed her onward, the armor he had commented on earlier looked like it was steel-plated, no, he was sure it was actually metal plates and boots that she was wearing. The weapon strapped to her back and how it just stayed in place, marveled him, along with its size. As he continued to gaze at the Retro Lancer strapped to her back, he noticed s small white skull inside of a gear design, just like the one he had previously seen on the rifle coach was holding.

_The shotgun coach has must belong to her! _

"Can you hear that?" she suddenly asked him, causing him to snap out of his thoughts, she stopped moving, they had taken a different path back to the town where Ellis had saw that giant spider crawling out of the ground.

"_I can' hear anythin'…" _he hissed back but then he felt it.

The ground started to violently shake beneath his feet, the woman gripped his hand and pulled him out of the clearing and into the cover of a few threes whom vines had grown long and thick, she crouched low, Ellis mimicked her. She clearly knew what was happening, more than he did at least.

_Maybe she's apart of some special clean-up crew, maybe they're taking care of the zombies! _

His hope soared for a brief moment as he thought of his group and all the things that they had been through, but just as quickly as it did, it then seemed to come crashing down as he watched the scene unravel in front of him.

He watched another hole rip apart the earth and things, no, _monsters_ start to crawl out of the ground in front of him. He watched as they gripped the edges of the earth and pulled themselves up, he looked over at the woman clad in her metal plates and then back to the _things _shouting at each other and handing weapons among themselves. He could hear someone talking but didn't realize it was him until the woman put her hand on his shoulder to calm him, he looked at her, as she continued to stare daggers into the emerging creatures and then met his eyes.

"You never told me your name, kid…" she whispered softly then looked back at the hole as screaming could suddenly be heard in the distance.

"_Ellis… my name's Ellis…" _he whispered keeping his gaze on her, not wanting to look at the things any further. He could feel bile rising in his throat, he swallowed and tried to slow his breathing.

_What the hell are those things? They sure as hell ain't zombies, that I'm sure of! _

"Ellis…" she said his name, bringing him out of his thoughts once again. "I'm Emma, Emma Mendoza, Lieutenant to the Coalition and Leader of Beta Squad…" she trailed off and motioned for them to back up, deeper into the bushes of the bayou.

_Lieutenant? _

The screaming was getting closer, of course the infected would be roused by the sound of the ground cracking underneath their feet. The infected always came running at any sign of sound. Ellis watched in horror as the monsters finally stopped emerging from the ground and began to make formation, these things were even making commands in broken English.

"Why are they here? Why did Adam let them through? I thought this area was unstable…" he could hear the Lieutenant mumbling to herself.

Suddenly in on swift movement she pulled Ellis by his shirt, back deeper into the bushes out of harms way sprinted forward and with a skilled angle and throw, sent what looked like a small rock flying through the air. It landed perfectly into the hole in the ground, the explosion caused Ellis to cover his ears, when he looked up it was into a battle scene. He watched as the Lieutenant moved forward, a blade suddenly attached to the front of her rifle, she slammed the bayonet deep into the first creature as is charged for her, spotting her in the clearing once the smoke from the grenade that she had thrown, cleared. The grub growled as the Lieutenant unloaded ammo into it, and then using it's carcass as meat shield, she moved forward slowly, but steadily taking shots at the remaining creatures, taking them all out in the process, there weren't many left that didn't avoid the blast from her frag. Using her boot she kicked the limp body off of the blade on her rifle once the last shot rang out. He watch as she reloaded and in swift motion put the weapon back on her back in its place.

"_How…?" _was all Ellis had managed to get out until the screaming was right on top of them as he exited the bushes from the bayou.

_Shit! _

He wasn't ready for a horde attack right now, all he had was a lousy crowbar strapped to him. He panicked for a moment until the Lieutenant tossed him one of the weapons from the fallen creatures and told him to reload from fallen ammo on the ground, he did as he was told and turned just in time to see the numerous bodies sprinting towards them, teeth bared hands clawing out ready for their next meal.

"Let 'em have it…" he heard Mendoza command as she started to let the ammo fly from her rifle that was missing its blade once again.

Ellis nodded to himself, following suit, ignoring the weight from the weapon he carried that fired off small but accurate rounds.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I've been putting in some serious Mass Effect time lately, anyone else really, really, excited for ME3 coming out on March 6****th****?**

**I haven't forgotten about this fic though and will continue it, thank you for continuing to read it! **


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: I don't any of the L4D2 or GOW characters; they belong to VALVE and EPIC.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey Lieutenant, you even listening to me?" Corporal Wells asked throwing a fist into her shoulder. <em>

_She fakes a wince and pulls her gaze away from the broken and yet beautiful horizon in front of her to turn around and face her squad. Her cousin Sal was driving as usual, she can feel his gaze through the mirror as the rest of the squad shifts into an uneasy silence. They were circling the wide perimeter around Jacinto, a simple check to make sure that there were no more lurking monsters left hiding in the shadows as the setting sun causes the sky to turn into fire. About this time just a few weeks ago they would be powering up the ATV's strong anterior lights and racing back to the safety of the city. But now, now it was over, the Lightmass Bomb had done it, and the Locust hadn't been seen in weeks. _

_She smiled at her squad, a few of them starting to squirm under her calmed gaze; they knew their Lieutenant well enough to know that if she was smiling, something was definitely wrong. Except nothing was wrong, nothing but her troubling memories and the thought that years of death and fighting had finally come to an end. _

"Don't worry about it guys…" _she started waving a dismissive hand in the air. _"How about when we get back to base drinks are on me during our R&R?" _that calmed the squad a little. Corporal Wells was the first to let out a loud _whoop_ while the others quickly followed in unison._

_There was banter about how the war was finally over, a few name calling and the occasional sound of metal plates hitting against plates as they threw fist and then quickly overcame with laughter. _

_They were all acting like children. _

**Let them… **

_The Lieutenant thought to herself as she continued to watch the destroyed scenery roll by the ATV, she silently chastised herself about getting taken aback by such a simple and yet beautiful thing, the sun setting over this part of Sera. It had been a while since any of them were able to relax and fully appreciate the days ahead, the futures that finally seemed like a possibility. Absentmindedly her hand went to her stomach, that's when she heard a small crackle in her ear. _

"_You alright?" Sal's voice was low through the TAC-COM as she switched to the private line he was using. She glanced towards the front of the ATV and then back to the scenery so that their conversation could remain private in such an enclosed space. _

"Just thinking…" _she mumbles and can hear his sigh on the other side. She wouldn't tell him what was going through her restless mind, the faces flashing through her memory that didn't make it this far. _

_The fallen Brothers and Sisters in arms that had lost their lives against the now defeated threat of the Locust Horde. Her friends getting shot down in front of her eyes while she survived for whatever reason, and was even moved up in rank because of it. She was disgusted by the thought of it, and always thought there had to be someone more _qualified_ to hold this position then her. But her Squad had made it, Beta Squad was still breathing and under _her_ Command. _

_Her thoughts drifted a little further, letting her mind go into its dark place, the place that always destroys her and causes her to think everything she's ever done, ever accomplished was nothing but a waste because _they_ aren't alive anymore. _

_The two main people who she had always lived for, the people she fought for, the people she would and nearly gave her life for when the time came for it, her _husband_ and her _son_, didn't make it this far. They were casualties to the Locust. _

"I miss them Sal, I miss them so much…" _she finally mumbles into the TAC-COM and glances towards the front of the ATV where he's driving. She doesn't say whom exactly but she knows that her cousin can piece it together. Watching him nod his voice cracks through the earpiece and she watches his lips move in the dashboard mirror as he continues to focus on the road. _

"_No doubt in my mind that they aren't watching over us right now," the that smirk reflects on the rear-view mirror is brief before it turns into a frown. "Hang on…" she's standing now to get a better look at what he's maneuvering around in the terrain, looking over the side of the ATV, Beta Squad's eyes all focused on their Lieutenant then silently to the front of the ATV. _

"What is that?"_ she said aloud to no one in particular as the sound of cracking earth can be heard echoing around the ATV. _

_The sound is familiar, any and every Gear knows what that sound is, has nightmares of it and dreads it. _

**E-Hole… **

"_But they're dead!" one of her Squad mates shouts.  
>"Shit! Why now?" another continues.<br>"Guess we won't be enjoying those drinks at the Nail _tonight_…" one mutters.  
>"How… How could they have survived the bombing!" another questions in an unsteady voice.<br>"Lieutenant?" Wells calls her as she glances at her Squad, they're all looking to her now, she gets on her seat to focus on what's ahead of them. _

"_Sal, can you see them up ahead?" she shouts as he shakes he head back to her.  
>"Negative Lieutenant, I'm not seeing anything ahead of us!"<br>_"What the fu-"_ she starts but never finishes as the ATV is suddenly flung forward causing it to flip. _

_The sound of the earth's hard crust cracking from beneath their feet is right on top of them. _

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Let 'em have it!"<strong>_ she roared as the oncoming Horde rushed forward, teeth bared, fingers extended screaming in unison as if the meal in front of them had been taunting. She moved back, next to the Civvie to make sure they didn't get snared by another tongue.

"_Reload the clip and watch the heat!"_ she shouted at the young man whose name was Ellis. She watched him in the corner of her eye, as he simply dropped the weapon and picked up another then continued the slaughter of the oncoming infected civilians.

"Try an get 'em in the head!" he shouted over the sound of their gunfire as the oncoming horde finally seemed to thin. She nodded, this kid clearly knew these enemies better than her, she was shooting in legs, shoulders, attempting to simply wound the oncoming infected, knock them down or slow them, but now she was making precise shots, picking them off, quicker than before.

When the Horde finally stopped and the only ones left were crawling on the ground towards them the Lieutenant turned and started to scan the ground.

_One of those Grubs had to have one… _

She was turning over the bodies of the dead locust and humans as well, it was a bit unnerving at how the Grubs resembled the common human, the graying, pale skin to the infected was identical to that of the Locust.

_What happened to these people? _

She thought to herself until she finally found what she had been searching for and cried out in triumph causing Ellis to run over and ask if she had been bitten in a slight frantic.

"_Bit? No, not this time, but I found a Lancer!"_ the sight of this mere weapon alone improved her mood, she hated the original Bayonet Lancers, a chainsaw always made everything easier.

He raised his eyebrows at her comment, but suddenly, the weapon dancing in front of him caused a low whistle to escape his lips as he took off the dirty trucker's hat on his head.

"Now _that _righ' there is a weapon!" Ellis laughed and then slapped her arm playfully but then winced as the metal plates did their duty and stung his fingers from even the soft impact. "Ouch…" he mumbled as he rubbed his palm. "What a second…" he mumbled, his previous worries surfacing once again. "Did you say you didn't get bit _'right now?'_" Ellis took a cautious step away from the Lieutenant, eyes grazing over the areas that the thick metal plates didn't block.

The issue didn't seem to deter the Lieutenant as she kneeled on the ground, fiddling with the chain on the massive rifle in her hands.

"Damn, it's in near perfect condition…" he heard her mumble to herself.  
>"Lieutenant…" he hesitated a moment as she then unhinged the ammo pack and reloaded the clip.<br>"Good thing the grubs like scavenging our weapons…"  
>"Uhh…"<br>"Need to get moving, who knows where the next hole will open up…" she pressed the button on the side of the rifle and the chainsaw revved to life as he winced slightly at the sound.  
>"Lieutenant?" he called over the sound of the rifle now as she stood and walked a few steps away from him. "Hey, Lieutenant, are you even listenin' to me?" he finally shouted as the woman suddenly spun around, chainsaw rifle raised in his direction, finger crisp on the trigger. He gulped and watched her cuss under her breath as she slowly lowered the weapon.<p>

"Sorry kid, I uh… what were you askin'?" she walked back over to his side.

He shifted on his feet, suddenly uneasy as she gave him her full attention.

"You said... earlier, that you had gotten' bit?"

"Yeah, earlier, before I found you, one of them got at my arm, I was _trying_ to help the bastard…" she said simply enough as she swung the chainsaw lancer onto the metal plates on her back and unhinged the retro. She removed the ammo from the weapon and attached it to the side of her armor plates, you could never have enough ammo. "We should keep moving, back a ways I was following arrows to what seemed to be a safe house…"

At those words Ellis was suddenly yanked out of his worried trance for the Lieutenant.

_His team! Nick, Rochelle, Coach! _

"_Shit_, we gotta hurry!" he shouted, snatching up one of the weapons from the ground and sprinting off towards the closest town. He could hear her right on his heels, following without question, for a moment he was grateful, then his stomach flipped when he remembered, yet again, that his savior had been bit.

How long did she have?

_Shit guys, hold on, I'll be there in a minute._


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the L4D2 characters or anything from the GOW universe, they belong to VALVE and EPIC.**

* * *

><p>"C'mon! We've gotta move faster!" he shouted back at the huffing Lieutenant. She wasn't too far behind the boy, but she wasn't right next to him either.<p>

"Right behind you!" she shouted ahead to him as he continued to sprint forward as she focused on her breathing. That was the key when wearing the metal plates. Breath, a machine wouldn't be able to function without the turning gears, so she kept her breath even, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. She briefly wondered why she couldn't keep her stamina as her steps quickly grew heavier, her breathing harder.

_All of that time in the Hollow… _

Keeping a wary eye on the boy as he continued to sprint and move even further up ahead, she stopped her run to a slower jog, the sound of manic laughter piercing her eardrums against the distant gunfire.

"What the fuck is that?" she gasped, catching her breath, finally giving into her bodies exhaustion protest and stopping in the middle of the swamp. She glanced around the empty bayou as the laughter continued to vibrate around her. She unhinged her lancer from the plates on her back and picked her pace back up to catch up with Ellis.

* * *

><p>"Reloading!" Rochelle shouted at the top of her lungs as the giant spider made another wild dash towards one of the men driving it away.<p>

"FUCK! Are we even hurting the damn thing?" Nick shouted as he dodged one of the legs that slammed down in the dirt next to him.

"Too old, I'm too old for this!" Coach roared unloading the remaining bullets from the shotgun he had found into the giant spider, now heading his way.

"_Coach_!" the voices of Rochelle and Nick were in unison as the small corpser slammed down into his leg, breaking the skin and crushing the bone.

The team had run out from the small safety they had in the convenience store at the sounds of Ellis's earlier screaming when he was getting attacked by the smoker. Running out into the middle of the square shouting out the boy's name had startled the corpser digging into the ground into a frenzy, causing it to instantly rush them, and unsure if their teammate was even still alive or well the team had begun to try and take the corpser down with what little ammo they still possessed.

The second he got to him, Nick had his arm around Coaches' waist and started to pull the older made from the area as Rochelle kept the corpser occupied to the best of her abilities. Suddenly the giant spider started to make a screeching sound as Rochelle focused on what was left from her gunfire on the creatures eyes.

"Nick, the eyes, shoot the fucker in the eyes!" she screamed as the corpser turned and headed back towards the men's direction.

* * *

><p>"Ellis?" she turned from her position, no longer being able to hear him, just the maniacal laughter that was continuing to send chills down her spine.<p>

The Lieutenant gripped the weapon in her hands a little tighter as she slowly pushed forward.

_Just get to that town._

She told herself over and over again, one rapidly paced step at a time, get one task accomplished and then focus on the rest later.

Suddenly, just as it had started, the laughing stopped, and froze her jog to a stop. She raised the lancer, pivoting in a small circle, alone once again, separated from the civvie who was dashing back to his team. She sighed whatever had been terrorizing the bayou with its laughter had either been killed or spotted an opening and was waiting for the moment to strike.

The bayou was dark and silent, as the insects slowly came back to life around her, proving to be nothing more than a false sense of security that everything was all clear. Briefly she wondered how long ago the sun had set on the bayou, or were they just back in the heart of the swamp, and the thick trees were blocking out the light?

Chest still heaving, focusing on her intakes of breath and the sound of the water swishing at her heels she wiped the sweat from her brow she continued forward.

* * *

><p>Ellis could feel his heart beating in his throat as he pushed forward, ignoring the pain in his legs, ignoring his ragged breath, ignoring the noises coming from a nearby Jokey as he ran as fast as he could to get back to that town.<p>

He'd been separated from the others maybe an hour, maybe a little bit less or more he wasn't sure, but one thing he was sure of is that the sun that provided what little light the bayou swallowed up, was setting at an alarming rate.

He could hear shouting as he neared closer to the town, tightening his grip on the heavy weapon in his hands he continued onward.

* * *

><p>"Where's Coach?" Rochelle panted as she ran over to Nick's side, the spider that had nearly taken him out was wildly thrashing around in the middle of the square. They had both started to pace their shots, waiting for the right moment when the creature opened its grotesque legs and unshielded its face.<p>

"I put him up in the shop we were just in…" Nick started but they had to move again as the corpser moved back towards their position. "Ro, he isn't looking too good!" he shouted as he moved behind one of the shops for a brief moment of cover, he watched as she did the same. They were blinding the spider, blinding, but not killing it, the thing was still reacting to their movements and sound.

_Mutation, like the zombies maybe… _

Nick thought as he reloaded the rifle in his hands now down to his last fifty shots, this was going to be close.

_With our luck, a fucking tank will… _

He stopped his thought right there, not wanting to test their chances, the shrieking coming from the spider alone probably had a horde of over a thousand corpses tearing towards their position.

"_Nick! Rochelle! Coach!" _

Ellis' voice rang out so unexpectedly Nick nearly fell over as he turned around, unluckily enough, just as he was turning around, the spider that was nearly across town was moving back towards Ellis' position or at least, the position in which his voice was ringing from. Nick watched in dismay as the boy seemed rooted in place and boldly raised the weapon in his hands, firing off small-quick burst of ammo.

"OVERALLS! MOVE, NOW!" Nick heard himself bellow out to the younger male and could make out Rochelle yelling something similar as the spider covered the ground fast, faster than it seemed possible.

What happened next, Nick would keep locked away in his memory forever.

The gun that Ellis had been using seemed to jam, he watched the boy fiddle with the ammo for a brief moment then look up at the impending foe as Rochelle continued to scream, trying to divert the spiders path. _Just like a Charger kid, move! _His voice caught in his throat as he tried to scream out, a flash of the legs diving down into Coach's calf and tearing the skin, cracking the bone…

He watched as Ellis closed his eyes and dropped the seemingly useless weapon, a look of defeat upon his face when suddenly he was heaved out of the way and sent flying off to the side. The person whom pushed him was still in the path of the spider that was now right on top of them but they didn't move either. Raising the rifle in their hands Nick heard the sound of a chainsaw revving to life as they suddenly crouched low to the ground but charged forward to meet the blind spider running senselessly towards the ripping sound. They both collided, the whirring blade seemed to cut clean through the legs of the spider as the person carved the giant insect from the bottom up, gutting it right through the middle, and down the back of the beast.

When it was over, just as fast as it had begun, he watched as Ellis' savior kicked the corpse, stomping their boot into its lifeless body crushing the downed enemy further into the ground.

"Well, I'll be damned," he chuckled as he watched Rochelle run and land next to Ellis as she threw her arms around him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Two updates in two days? _SORCERY!_ **

**But yeah, here you go****, the gangs finally all back together again(_kinda_)!**

**Coach will be returning and bit more background story for our ever dramatic Lieutenant in the next chapter... _maybe_. **

**Well, Coach will be back, that one you can count on. **

**Leave a review for our fallen baby corpser? **


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